NPR News Now - NPR News: 08-24-2025 7PM EDT

Episode Date: August 24, 2025

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Live from NPR News, I'm Janine Herbst. President Trump is threatening to send the National Guard to several Democrat-led cities, New York and Baltimore, among them, after sending them to Washington, D.C. And here's Tamara Keith has more. The Washington Post is exclusively reporting that the Pentagon has been drawing up planning documents to deploy troops to Chicago to crack down on crime, homelessness, and undocumented immigration. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker wrote on, social media, quote, Donald Trump's threat to bring in the National Guard to Chicago isn't about safety. It's a test of the limits of his power and a trial run for a police state. Illinois has long worked with federal law enforcement to tackle crime, but we won't let a dictator impose his will. And Pierce Tamara Keith, Maryland's governor also criticized Trump's actions. The new congressional map pushed through the Texas legislature by Republicans is already facing legal challenges. They were requested by President Trump to improve Republican prospects in next year's midterm

elections. Texas Public Radio's Jerry Clayton has more. Lawmakers approved the map on Saturday in the early morning hours. The new map heavily favors Republicans and was pushed by the Trump administration to shore up Republican ranks in Congress for the approaching midterm elections. The lawsuit was filed against Governor Greg Abbott and Secretary of State Jane Nelson on behalf of 13 Texas residents collectively called the Gonzales plaintiffs. The suit claims the redrawn map is racially discriminatory and also argues that the redrawing of congressional maps before the next census is unconstitutional. The map was pushed through by Republicans after a lengthy battle which

saw Democrats at one point fleeing the state to break quorum. For NPR news, I'm Jerry Clayton in San Antonio. Today is Independence Day in Ukraine, marking 34 years since the Ukrainian voted to reject being part of the Soviet Union. And Pierce Polina Latvinova reports it coincides with three and a half years since Russia's full-scale invasion. Ukraine's president, Volodymer Zelensky, congratulated Ukrainians on Independence Day from Maidan, the main square of the Ukrainian capital. In his video address, Zelensky said that Ukraine is fighting for a just peace and the right

to determine its own future. Today, both the U.S. and Ukraine, today, both the U.S. Europe agree, Ukraine hasn't yet fully won, but it will certainly not lose, he says. Ukraine has secured its independence. It was 1991 when it declared independence from Soviet rule. Now 34 years later and days after President Trump declared a diplomatic breakthrough in his bid to get a peace deal done, ceasefire negotiations between Ukraine and Russia appear to have stalled. Polina Litvinova, NPR News, Kyiv. You're listening to NPR News.

Six male workers who died at a dairy farm north of Denver last week have now been identified. The cause of death is under investigation. Emma Van Dyndy of Member Station KUNC has more on the victims. Weld County Fire Department crews found six bodies when they responded to a call for a confined space rescue at the Prospect Valley Dairy on Wednesday. The County Coroner's Office reports four victims. were extended family members. 50-year-old Alejandro Espinoza Cruz was killed along with his two sons,

29-year-old Carlos Espinoza Pardo, and 17-year-old Oscar Espinoza-Leos, who attended high school in the area. The coroner says the cause of death was likely a gas exposure in the confined space, but the office is waiting on additional testing. There is no indication a crime took place. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration

is also investigating the incident. For NPR News, I'm Emma Vant. 90 in Denver. Mass evacuations are planned in Vietnam as typhoon Kajiki heads to the region. A half million people are affected and authorities ordered boats to stay ashore while southern China closed businesses and public transportation today. And Vietnam's airlines are canceling flights. Forecasters expect the storm to brush past the southern coast of China tonight before heading out to Vietnam. Vietnam's National Weather Agency says the storm is expected. expected to strengthen. U.S. futures contracts are trading flat at this hour as traders this week

await earnings from NVIDIA. I'm Janine Herf's NPR News in Washington.